Saturday, May 23, 2009

G-Men Never Forget - Chapter 10: The Innocent Victim

OUR STORY SO FAR: Last week, in order to save a little money on this big-budgeted serial extravaganza, the good folks at Republic presented a chapter in which the principals in this story discussed how exciting the first installment was (with accompanying footage) while neglecting to mention that the story has since become mired in utter ennui.But before the chapter played out, Special Agent Ted O’Hara (Clayton Moore), Sergeant Francis Blake (Ramsay Ames), Special Deputy Roberts (Phil Warren)…and even criminal mastermind Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft), in his plastic-surgery disguise as Police Commissioner Angus Cameron were in danger of being exterminated, thanks to clever little vandal Duke Graham (Drew Allen), who had transformed Cameron’s office into a gas chamber.As the four individuals pass out from the noxious fumes, only O’Hara has the intestinal fortitude not to succumb to the gas, and he quickly opens a window in the Commissioner’s office to allow fresh air into the room.Looking outside, he spots Graham on the back of a truck that is speeding away…

MURKLAND: Who was it?

O’HARA: Duke Graham…he had a gas cylinder on a truck…

BLAKE: Yes, it was coming from that vent…

ROBERTS: Then…Murkland must have known of my visit here…

I’m beginning to see just how this guy reached the rank of Special Deputy…nothing gets past him!

O’HARA: That’s right!

MURKLAND: That’s impossible—how could he have known?

O’HARA: That’s what I’m going to find out, Commissioner…

ROBERTS: Good idea, Ted…

Oh, please…don’t start patting him on the back—this is pretty much what you pay him for, isn’t it?Roberts announces that he’s on his way back to Washington and Ted—ever the brown-noser—offers to drive him to the station.His good deed done for the day, O’Hara commiserates (and no, it doesn’t mean what you think it means, you gutter-minded reprobates) with Sergeant Blake back at his bachelor’s pad:

BLAKE: This Murkland case has the Commissioner’s office worried…

O’HARA: Yes, and the Commissioner’s office has me worried…

BLAKE: How’s that?

O’HARA: All of our moves we’ve talked over in the Commissioner’s office somehow got back to the Murkland gang…

BLAKE: But Commissioner Cameron has such a fine record…

“He plays it every year at the office Christmas party…”

BLAKE: Surely you don’t believe that…

O’HARA (interrupting her): I don’t believe anything until I prove it…besides, the Commissioner has a secretary…Mister Hayden…

BLAKE: Him?

O’HARA: That’s just what we’re going to find out…

O’Hara’s plan is to type up a phony letter for Francis to drop off at Hayden’s desk—the contents inside revealing that a valuable painting is being stored at the city’s museum.Murkland, having read the letter, contacts Robert “Doc” Benson (Stanley Price) at his sanitarium hideout and informs him of his sudden interest in art:

MURKLAND: I just got a hot tip through O’Hara that ought to net us plenty…there’s a painting waiting to be shipped to the London Art Museum worth at least a quarter of a million dollars…

BENSON: Duke’s here and ready to go…where is it?

MURKLAND: The AndrewArtGallery office, in the Andrew Building…now here’s the way I want it handled…

The scene shifts to the gallery’s office, where Duke and another nameless flunky (Duke Green) dedicated to Murkland’s empire of crime break in to put the snatch on the canvas.But guess what, fellas?It’s a trap, and both men are surprised by O’Hara…who engages the two goons in another balsa-wood melee.(What I found so amusing about this is that while the furniture is easily busted up, the box containing the painting remains intact throughout the fight scene.)Although “Sarge” Blake is temporarily knocked out during the donnybrook, she manages to come to just in time to put a slug into Nameless Thug Boy before he wails on O’Hara with some sort of brass ashtray…but unfortunately, Graham beats a hasty retreat out of the office:

BLAKE: It was a little bit rough, but you proved your point…

O’HARA: Not quite…now comes the showdown with Hayden…

BLAKE: That’ll be a pleasure to see…

O’HARA: Listen, Sarge…we’re dealing with a pretty sharp character…and it might be better at this time if we split up…

Uh-oh…sounds like Ted is giving Frances the old “it’s-not-you-it’s-me” speech…

O’HARA: In case anything happens to me—you’ll be in a spot where you can finish the job…

BLAKE: Well…I hope nothing happens to you…

O’HARA: Thanks… (Looking around) I have to get someone to take care of this mess…meet me at my place…see you later…

Awww…I knew those crazy kids were destined to be together…they were just having a little spat.(Trust me, folks—this is as close as we’re going to get to any actual romance in this thing.)The scene then shifts to Cameron’s office, where Murkland is surprised to receive an unwanted guest:

MURKLAND: What are you doing here?Someone might have seen you!

GRAHAM: Can’t be much worse than it is now…that picture deal you had me touted on had a nice frame on it…

MURKLAND: What are you talking about?I’ve got the letter right there on my desk…

GRAHAM: Sure, and O’Hara used it as bait for a neat trap…

Murkland and Duke’s conversation is interrupted by the buzzing of Cameron’s intercom—and Murkland learns through Hayden (Doug Aylesworth) that O’Hara is there to see him.Duke quickly ducks out of sight into a nearby closet as O’Hara (who asks Hayden to join them) brings Murkland some news he can use:

O’HARA: I’ve evidence that indicates that someone in this office has sold out to Murkland…

(There is a quick shot of the closet door, which opens slightly to reveal Duke’s gun at the ready…)

MURKLAND: Why, that’s ridiculous…the next thing you’ll be telling me is that Hayden is a member of Murkland’s gang…

O’HARA: Strangely enough, that’s just the way the evidence points…

HAYDEN: But…but…I…you…

O’HARA: You received a sealed envelope from Francis addressed to me…

HAYDEN: Sure…and I gave it to the Commissioner just as she said…

O’HARA: The information in that envelope somehow got to Duke Graham…and Hayden was the only one who handled it…

HAYDEN: That’s not true…Baxter also had it—he relieved me for lunch…

O’HARA: Baxter?

Well, Mr. Smarty-pants Special Agent…you hadn’t counted on Baxter, had you?Looking as sheepish as only an idiot can, O’Hara announces that he’ll investigate the man known as Baxter—but warns Hayden that he’s to be made available for further questioning.When both O’Hara and Hayden depart, Murkland warns Duke that with the finger of suspicion pointing at this office, things could get rough…the two men are then interrupted again by Hayden:

MURKLAND: What is it now?

HAYDEN: I’m sorry, sir, but…I hope you didn’t believe that I…

MURKLAND (forcefully): I’m sorry, too, Hayden—but I can’t commit myself…O’Hara has complete charge of the Murkland case and all I can do is lend assistance wherever he needs it…

(Murkland absentmindedly pulls out a matchstick and begins to chew on it…Hayden’s eyes become as big as dinner plates as he soon realizes…Cameron is being impersonated by Murkland!)

With Murkland’s little charade exposed to the hapless Hayden, he and Duke listen in on a phone conversation between the doomed man and Sergeant Blake—he tells her he knows where Murkland is, and she gives him Ted’s address so that he can wait for him there.Duke tells Murkland that the only way to settle the matter is “to take Hayden for a ride.”“That’s not a bad idea,” Murkland snarls in return.The criminal mastermind takes pen, envelope and paper out of his desk and scrawls something that will incriminate Hayden:

The scene shifts to Ted O’Hara’s apartment.It is night, and a jittery Hayden waits for Mr. Special Agent to return, pacing and smoking cigarette after cigarette.He hears someone at the front door, and cautiously walks over, asking who’s outside.A muffled voice answers: “O’Hara.”Hayden foolishly opens the door, and Duke Graham, Boy Hoodlum barges in, roscoe in hand.Hayden ends up on the other side of the room, and because he’s so scared to the point of soiling himself he stupidly opens up a door behind him…only to discover it’s a clothes closet.How Hayden planned to make a smooth getaway via a closet will be a mystery for the ages—and a moot one at that, since Graham turns the radio on full blast and pumps three slugs into the government lackey, the music drowning out the shots.

Down on the street, O’Hara and Blake pull up in Ted’s car at the same time Duke plants the envelope on Hayden’s corpse.He’s all set to vacate the premises when he spots the two in the corridor, and ducks back inside, turning off the lights.(A neon sign outside blinks on and off, allowing us to see Duke maneuvering in the dark…and makes me wonder how O’Hara manages to get a good night’s sleep…unless he’s spending his nights shacking up at Chez Blake, if you know what I mean.)Ted hears the music blaring from his digs…and when the music stops abruptly, he tells Francis to stand back.With his weapon at the ready, Ted slowly begins to enter his darkened apartment, his hand reaching for the light switch…and Duke responds with appropriate gunfire…